What Is The Black Lives Matter Movement?

“Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood”. These stirring words of Martin Luther King Jr. inadvertently set off a worldwide movement on racial emancipation. There are a number of cases that prove African Americans have been “enslaved, oppressed and dehumanized” for much of American history. The inequality of races creates a barrier between brotherhood and a just society. Through music, movements, actions and protests many people in the United States are fighting against the vicious cycle of stereotypes and racial boundaries for the African American people. A part
of American society hopes to diminish the high statistics of police brutality through guiding principles of the Black Lives Matter Movement which is committed to validating the lives of African-Americans.
The Black Lives Matter movement is an organized association founded in 2012 that works to help society value all walks of life but notably the lives of African Americans.
The Black Lives Matter Movement represents an effort to counter the violent racism that continues to transfuse throughout American society today. Alicia Garza, a special projects director for the National Domestic Workers Alliance co- founded the Black Lives Matter Movement. This movement against police violence was sparked after many unjust killings of specific African American males. A young innocent and unarmed 17-year old African American male named Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by Officer George Zimmerman while visiting family members in Sanford Florida. Police officer George Zimmerman was charged with murder but during his trial was freed from any criminal charges. After the death of Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012, the Black Lives Matter Movement was born. The organizers of the Black Lives Matter movement emphasize the importance of educating Americans concerning the unjust killings of African Americans and responds to the countless number of deaths in a professional way. Alicia Garza says, “What we are dealing with right now is a disease that has plagued America since its inception… We need to move towards a transformative vision that touches on what’s at the root of the problems we are facing” (https://www.thenation.com/article/qa-alicia-garza-co-founder-blacklivesmatter/). In other words,
Alicia Garza is aware of the unjust bloodshed and racial barriers between cultures and with the help of the community, and colleagues, she’s working towards solutions to the problems of society by validating that ALL lives matter.

Police brutality remains one of the most divisive issues in the United States. Over the 21st century the actions of police officers has made many people question if the police are really doing their job. Unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings’ and unnecessary treatment are all issues that contribute to police brutality in America today. When a police officer discharges a weapon it’s a life changing event. One bullet has the power to end a life, end the good reputation of those who are meant to protect us and create hardships for those suffering from loss. In the article “The Guardian (2015)” 1,146 deaths of Americans were tallied in the 2015 calendar year. 307 of these deaths were of African American descent. Per million deaths, 7.69% of them are of those from African American background. “The Guardian” emphasized that although African American males aged 15-34 make up 2 percent of the population, they compromise 15% of all deaths logged in 2015 and in all, 1,091 deaths were recorded for the 2016 year. According to the “Washington Post”, 987 lives were taken by police in the year 2017. Almost all of the people shot and killed by police were male and just under half of the victims were white while one in five were African American. 123 lives have been taken by police in the 2018 calendar year. The continuous cycle of uncalled for deaths seems never ending and this vicious sequence seems to get worse each year due to the fact that communities fear the consequences of standing up for what they feel is right. Although many people are afraid to stand up for what they believe in, some are brave enough to do so and Hillary Clinton was not afraid to say that black lives matter. This is shown while Mrs. Clinton visited the African Methodist Episcopal Church National Convention in Philadelphia. The church community joined to celebrate African American history and while there, Hillary Clinton spoke about police brutality. Hillary Clinton says, “For now let's focus on what we already know-deep in our hearts. We know there is something wrong with our country. There is too much violence, too much hate, too much senseless killing, too many people dead who shouldn’t be. And we know that there is clear evidence that African Americans are much more likely to be killed in police incidents than any other group of Americans” (http://www.mcall.com/news/local/elections/mc-hillary-clinton-philadelphia-ame-speech-20160711-htmlstory.html) In other words, Hillary Clinton is aware that African Americans are a very oppressed group of people and she believes that society can get better through listening to one another. She proved this when she invited nine mothers of children whose lives were lost to police, to one of her public speeches at the Democratic National Convention and listened to their insight about their children's’ deaths. Is the Black Lives Matter Movement causing more harm than good?
This is a common question asked by the public since it is such a controversial issue in the media. There is evidence found in FBI documents that show how the US government views the Black Lives Matter movement as a threat. The US government has carefully monitored the movement and found documents specifically from the FBI and the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that reveal important emails concerning plotted allegations, field reports and presumptions of violence. For example in July 2016 the FBI was warned of attacks against law enforcement after a gunman opened fire at five policeman and killed them during a police brutality protest in Dallas Texas. However, this gunman by the name of Micah Xavier Johnson committed the crime on his own and did not have any known ties to the Black Lives Matter movement or any other groups. After the attack of police officers, an email with the subject line “Dallas TP’s for General Taylor” was found that was along the lines “There is a threat of black supremacists extremists attempting to violently co-opt the upcoming DNC/RNC.” The term DNC/RNC refers to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. In another document, specifically an advisory titled “A Day of Rage Protests across America” read, “Being anywhere near these protests greatly increases the chance that you could become a victim of violence”. This report was used to inform people about the
potential violence of attending BLM protests and it also suggested that misinformation may play a role in the Government’s handling of BLM protests. This advisory was sent to the Army personnel from the US Army North so that they could inform the National Protection and Programs Directorate about the productivity and behavior of the Black Lives Matter Movement during police brutality protests. The government believes that the Black Lives Matter Movement is misguided. The government believes this because, as a result of the Black Lives matter movement, the perilous phrase “All lives matter” came about and the protestors were unhappy about this term because it is misunderstanding the coherent message that specifically black lives matter.